[contextly_auto_sidebar id="vGiRx28JEAJa3NJAi6uPVSLuqhSRvvpA"] THE great Texas-born jazz musician, who died last week, worked in a number of genres -- free jazz, symphonic music, funk -- and it can be hard for newcomers to get a sense of him. Here's how I began my Salon piece on Coleman: Miles Davis said he must be “all screwed up inside” to play that way he did. Max Roach punched him in … [Read more...]
LA Artists of the ’60s at LACMA
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="pFkvNxQ3v2mm1VEKfWCa48kouHd3cwqj"] FOR the next few weeks, we have an unusual and probably accidental correspondence: Two important but often unseen artists of Los Angeles' great 60s flowering are up at the LACMA. For admirers of John Altoon -- one of the original Ferus Gallery bad boys -- and Helen Pashgian, a pioneer of the Light and Space movement -- it's a rare … [Read more...]
The Forgotten Fifties: Debut of a Guest Columnist
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="FSBn2DLrnWZBS8DufCMUcy7PwGEjKVRO"] DO we misread our cultural past, especially the 1950s? Today marks the debut of CultureCrash guest columnist Lawrence Christon, a veteran arts and entertainment journalist in LA, author of a book about South Coast Repertory, and a longtime friend. Larry will be weighing in on various topics about the past, present and future of … [Read more...]
Roots of a Great English Band: The Clientele
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="dzt0X2rINHchc2UlFWD4AkubWFuBi9up"] TODAY sees the reissue of the debut LP by one of Britain’s best rock bands: The Clientele’s Suburban Light. Fans of the Clientele know that this group took bits of ‘60s British folk, the Byrds, and Velvet Underground, jacked up the tremolo, and produced succinct and chiming pop songs that become hard to forget. (Here is the album's … [Read more...]
Celebrating Eric Dolphy, and the Threat of Spotify
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xOdJRgN2pWgbTiyFwQwSUxKpJatgoqCK"] THESE posts have become fairly grim lately, so I'm pleased to be able to offer some unqualified praise. Eric Dolphy's LP Out to Lunch now marks its 50th anniversary, and the record remains both radical and, I think, oddly accessible. Dolphy is perhaps my favorite avant-garde jazz player. Kevin Whitehead says on NPR: 1964 was a … [Read more...]
The Glories of Van Dyke Parks
[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ct3qiObIO1GjbjGS8WTsakgdEZd3a77u"] ONE of the great characters -- and great talents -- of Southern California, Van Dyke Parks, has experienced a renaissance lately. First known for his work with the Beach Boys and for his pop-baroque Song Cycle, Parks is an ornery Southerner with a big heart, an abiding love for music, and some serious frustrations with recent … [Read more...]
Pacific Standard Time’s Life and Times
WE'RE getting close to the launch of a gargantuan art blowout -- much bigger than an exhibit, not as cheesy as a "celebration" -- called Pacific Standard Time: Art in Los Angeles 1945 to 1980. This will be a six month initiative involving museums and galleries from Santa Barbara to San Diego, Santa Monica to Palm Springs.For Sunday's LA Times I put together a timeline intended to be helpful in … [Read more...]
Simon Reynolds Goes Retro
HAS the end of cultural history ever been so much fun? Your humble scribe has been reading Simon Reynolds since his work was a well-kept secret of the British music press. (He was also, during the ‘90s, one of two rock-crit Simons in the Village Voice, the other being the code-cracking rock sociologist Simon Frith.)He’s written with insight and intelligence about rock n roll, subculture, shoegaze, … [Read more...]
Retro rock with LA’s Dawes
ONE of my favorite newish West Coast bands is the LA quartet Dawes, who both draw from the classical canyon rock of the 60s and 70s and work to carve their individual place in the tradition. The voices of Jackson Browne, the Byrds, Neil Young and others echo through their songs.HERE is my profile of the band in today's LA Times.I really enjoyed talking to singer/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith: We … [Read more...]
Rockin in 1970
ON Friday I have a New York Times review of an interesting if imperfect new book called Fire and Rain, which looks at the year 1970 and the making of four hugely popular records -- The Beatles' Let it Be, CSNY's Deja Vu, James Taylor's Sweet Baby James and Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water.If you love all these artists, by all means pick up David Browne's book. Otherwise -- as I get … [Read more...]